Improvement in grates



J'. 'H".'MEARNS.

GRA'IE.

No. 191,702. Patentd June 5,1877.

Z ZW 2% Wm M W/ m m walrzesses- FIGEJ UNITED STATES JAMES H. MEARNS, OFPHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN GRATES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 191,702, dated June 5,1877; application filed J annary 19, 1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES H. MEARNS, of the city and county ofPhiladelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Grates for Burning Fuel which improvement is fullyset forth in the following specification and accompanying drawings, inwhich- Figure l is an isometrical view of my improved grate, inconnection with the ash-pit of a furnace, the near side being brokenaway to show the grate-bars and cranks. Fig. 2 is a side elevation ofthe same, with the door H in its open position, and the free end of theslip-lever F resting on the floor to show the half-dumped position ofthe grate.

Like letters of reference in all the figures indicate the same parts.

My invention relates to the following particulars:

The middle portion of the grate consists of a series of bars which havehooked ends which rest on a pair of cranks, one at the front of thefire-place, and the other at the rear side thereof, for shaking anddumping the bars. But, if desired the bars may be connected to form themiddle portion of the grate in a single piece. A short lever isconnected with the front cranks for dumping the grate, and a slip-leveris connected with the short lever for shaking the grate, and also forsupporting it inits proper position for removing the clinkers. One orboth cranks have their pivotal connections so arranged that when thegrate-bars are in their elevated position, as seen in Fig. 1, theircrank-bearings are somewhat in the rear of the perpendicular lines ofthe crank-pivots, with the free end of the lever E bearing against theinner face of the rear side of the box G, whereby the superincumbentweight upon the pivots retains said bars in that position. There is abox at one side of the ash-pit, which incloses the lever to prevent thedirt from the ash-pit getting into the air-chamber. The box is providedwith a door to prevent the dirt getting into it and obstructing theworking of the lever. The door is of suitable height to act as a stopfor the lever when the grate is being raked.

A is the ash-pit, and B the base-plate of the furnace which rests uponit. C O G O O are bars, which form the middle portion of the grate. D Dare cranks, the journals or pivots a of which have their bearings in theside plates of the ash-pit. The grate-bars C have hooked ends formed bymeans of the jaws b b, which straddle the middle and straight part ofthe cranks. As the rear crank D is moved by the longitudinal movement ofthe gratebars 0, imparted by the movement of the front crank D in thedumping and half dumping of the bars, the bearings of the latter shouldnot be brought far in front of the perpendicular plane of thecrank-pivots otherwise the crank will not have a free backward movementwhen the bars are returning to their horizontal position. (Seen in Fig.1.) To avoid this diffioulty, 1 make the arms of this crank much longerthan those of the front crank D and hence, as seen in Fig. 2, theforward movement of said bars does not bring the arms of the crank muchin front of a perpendicular position. I accomplish another object byincreasing the length of the arms of this crank, namely: The rear endsof the bars 0 are retained nearly at their greatest height, while theirfront ends, by the lowering of the front crank, are half dumped, by themovement of the lever F, into the position seen in Fig. 2. To completethe grate-surface there are short bars 0 at each side of the middleportion, and at right angles thereto. Their outer ends are connectedwith the baseplate B. They are in an inclined position, so as to inclinethe coal to the middle of the grate. On one end of the front crank is alever, E, and connected therewith is a sliplever, F. The latter is usedfor shaking the grate and for bringing it down to a half -dumpedposition, but is too long for dumping the grate, and consequently has tobe slipped off the lever E, which is used alone for that purpose. G is abox at one side of the ash-pit. It is open in front to admit of theworking of the levers E and F. The box is to intercept the dirt from theashpit and cellar, to prevent its getting into the air-chamber. Thefront of the box is provided with the door H, to prevent dirt gettinginto it from the front of the furnace, and thereby obstructing theworking of the levers E F. The door H is of suitable height for itsupper end to act as a stop during the shaking of the grate, to relieveit of the ashes. And

the lever F is of such length that when the grate is brought down to itshalf-dumped position, as seen in Fig. 2, for the removal of the clinkersfrom the fire, its free end shall rest on the floor, and thereby sustainthe weight of the grate.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination of the crank D with thefront ends of the grate-bars 0, having hooks for holding them inconnection with the cranks during the shaking and dumping of the grate,substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of the slip-lever F with the lever E and front crankfor supporting the grate in its half-dumped position, substantially asset forth.

3. The box G, for preventing the passage of dust from the ash-pit orcellar into the airchamber, substantially as set forth.

4. The door H, for closing the lower part of the box G to prevent dirtgetting therein, and obstructing the working of the lever F,substantially as set forth.

5. The combination of the lever F with the door H, the upper part of thedoor serving as a stop for the lever when the grate is being raked,substantially as set forth 6. Thecombination of the lever E with thefront crank and the back plate of the box G, substantially as and forthe purpose set forth.

7. The combination of the crank D with the crank D, and grate-bars O,the arms of the crank D being longer than those of the crank D,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

JAMES H. MEARNS.

Witnesses:

THOMAS J. BEWLEY, G110. G. HETZEL.

